About this project

$4,211

pledged of $4,000 goal

79

backers

BACKGROUND

In 2010, youarethecity created the Field Guide to Phytoremediation, a DIY handbook to cleaning up toxic soils in your own backyard, neighborhood vacant lot, or other urban space. Working with soil scientists, urban farming activists, community groups, and others interested on (and in) the ground, we have expanded this research. We need your help to make this process more visible and accessible to anyone. We want to print 2,000 copies of the field guide, to distribute for free, and to create on-site installations that illustrate and explain the process of phytoremediation at field lab sites throughout New York City.

FIELD GUIDE

We created a Field Guide to Phytoremediation to
illustrate how property owners can initiate a slow but cost-effective clean-up process using nature as
their ally to add 11,000 acres of productive, usable land to the City‘s
healthy environment.

The
Field Guide is a do-it-yourself guidebook with step-by-step
instructions for testing, planting, monitoring, and harvesting. It gives
recommendations of plants that have successfully removed contaminants
and informs you about the levels of contamination in your soil that are
safe to play, build housing, or grow food in.

FIELD LAB

At La Finca del Sur, a community farm in the
South Bronx, we are creating FIELD LAB, where we plant, monitor, and
harvest several varieties of plants known for their qualities to remove
toxins from the soil.

To
introduce the concepts of phytoremediation to the many volunteers and
school groups that visit the farm, we want to build an installation that
illustrates the process otherwise invisible and informs community
members about the various capacities that different plants have to clean
up the soil. The installation is based on a single multi-purpose module that can be used as information signage, garden furniture, gardening tool storage or a planter box.

PHYTOREMEDIATIONPhytoremediation
is the use of plants to remove contaminants from the environment. By
harnessing the natural capabilities of plants we can remediate toxic
soils, groundwater, surface water, and sediments. Phytoremediation is a
low-cost alternative to traditional brownfield clean-up. Instead of
removing tons of toxic soil and filling the site with new clean soil,
plants remove contaminants from the soil and store it within their plant
tissue. In some cases, the plants themselves then have to be removed as
hazardous waste, other plants break down the toxins and eliminate them
altogether.

The table below gives examples of levels of acceptable soil contamination for certain recreational, residential or food production uses (as recommended
by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation) and suggests
plant material most effective in remediating each contaminant.

Contaminants successfully removed in field studies have included heavy
metals, radionuclides, chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons,
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and explosives. Different plants have different remediative qualities.
Plants offer an aesthetic as well as an environmental value to the city
beyond the phytoremediation process. Improved air quality and reduction
of storm water run-off are among the additional benefits of planting on
sites that would otherwise be underutilized until funding for soil
removal becomes available.

THE CONTEXT: NEW YORK CITY (AND BEYOND)

According to the Department of City Planning’s most recent data, there are over 30,000 vacant lots in New York City. Taken together, these properties amount to approximately 11,000 acres
of underutilized land — roughly the size of Manhattan (not counting
streets). Imagine: across the five boroughs there is enough available
land to fill Manhattan, with the potential to grow fresh food, create
new parks or build affordable housing. But many of these vacant sites
are potentially contaminated by previous industrial uses or leftover
building materials, especially lead-based paint. Contamination and the
potential health hazards to people who live, work or play on or near
such sites become subject to oversight and regulation only in the event
of a rezoning permitting residential uses. In those cases, a site
receives an e-designation,
which identifies it as potentially hazardous due to previous industrial
uses. Once designated, site owners are obligated to submit to a process
of site investigation and clean up.

In May of 2009, Mayor Bloomberg signed the New York City Brownfield and Community Revitalization Act, a milestone in the City’s commitment to cleaning up brownfields for productive reuse in accordance with PlaNYC.
Citing the scarcity of land in New York City and the anticipated influx
of one million new residents by 2030, PlaNYC identified the importance
of cleanup and redevelopment of properties that are abandoned and
underutilized due to the presence or perceived presence of
contamination. As part of this effort, the City has created the Office of Environmental Remediation, which oversees the environmental review of brownfield sites and offers assistance to property owners on the path to a Green Property Certification and potential redevelopment.

50% of all vacant properties in the city are smaller than 2,500sf and
individually owned. 80% are smaller than 5,000sf. Remediation, typically
in the form of excavation of the contaminated soil, is costly, despite programs, assistance and grants
now available. As a result, these small properties lie vacant for
years, underutilized and toxic, their value further diminished by the
appearance of abandonment and potential contamination.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

We want to raise $4000 to cover printing costs for 2,000 copies of the field guide (to distribute for free), and to pay for materials and construction for the field lab on-site installations.

GIFTS

By donating to this project, you will receive (see details on the right):

Donating any amount will get you access to tools that will help you start your own phytoremediation field project. THANK YOU so much for your support!

FAQ

Yes, youarethecity is working with soil scientists at Brooklyn College, Cornell University, and Lyndon State College of Vermont to make sure that FIELD LAB and FIELD GUIDE are up-to-date with the latest phytoremediation and soil contamination research and knowledge, that all information in the field guide is accurate and fact-based, and that field lab experiments are useful and beneficial.

With adequate resources, we hope to create many other field labs within some of the 30,000 vacant lots in New York City - and hopefully beyond. In addition, we hope that this project provides a toolkit for creating self-maintained field labs anywhere, so that knowledge of the phytoremediation process can spread while toxic soils are remediated.

We are interested in developing tools for community action. As the name of our practice suggests, all of us, including you are the city. We all need to take responsibility for our environment.
Phytoremediation is a strategy that individuals and community groups with limited resources can start on their own to mitigate toxic substances in their backyards. While the plants clean the soil, they contribute to the social and natural ecology of the city.

We will mail you a copy of the field guide in appreciation of your donation of $10 or more. Alternately, you can download a summary version of the field guide from our website, http://www.youarethecity.com.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

NIMBY: No lead in your backyard? We will test your soil for you and send you a report explaining the results together with a field guide and a starter kit of seeds to start your own phytoremediation project.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

MODERN UTOPIAN: You will receive all of the above + fashionable yet functional PHYTOREMEDIATION GARDENING GLOVES! -OR- 30 copies of the field guide with a guided tour for you and your friends, your community group, or school class. You invite -we host!